Turned World (On Hiatus)

17 - Her Dream

 “How do they feel?” Jada asks, uncertain. In her right hand was a tablet and in her left hand was a tension and stress scanning device.

  Trein, looking down at himself, slowly lifts his hands. His right prosthetic hand was the same as it was. His new left arm was pretty similar to his old one, albeit a bit faster now in terms of thought to response time. He clenched and unclenched both fists, one after the other then at the same time.

 “Don’t stop there…” Jada urged him on, anxiously.

  Trein put down his hands on the metal bed he was sitting on. He looked down at himself. Hanging off the edge of the metal flat was a pair of prosthetic legs. They were fairly simple and made in the same way as the arm. He tried flexing his foot and watched as the foot moved how he wished, just a bit slower than he was used to. He stretched out both legs and turned his legs. They moved exactly like real legs. Trein chuckled a bit, amazed by the work.

 “Hey! C’mon already! Try them already!” Jada urged.

  Trein Gripped the edge of the flat and slowly pushed himself off. Jada took a sharp breath as he landed on both feet. He slowly stood to his full height, then leaned to the side. He slowly raised one foot. Then the next.

 “Ooh, they’re stable! That’s a relief. Try walking.”

  Trein began his, once taken for granted, now methodic and sequential feeling, walking cycle. After a minute or two of walking in circles, the legs seemed to adapt to him and the movements became smoother.

 “It works.” Trein laughed, a laugh of utter relief. “It actually works!”

  Jada leapt into the air, shouting with joy. She seemed to be even more excited than Trein even. But rightfully so, as this was her second blind test on a live subject with no preparations. And she was successful in both.

  But she was also happy that Trein was now repaired.

  Jada stopped laughing suddenly. The thought she had just now scared her.The word ‘repaired’ came so naturally to her. As if she was just fixing a broken machine and not a living person.

  Trein noticed that Jada had stopped smiling and was now frowning deeply.

 “Jada? You ok?”

 “Huh? Oh, yeah. I was just…thinking of any possible adjustments that could be made, that’s all.” She smiled, as she said that to make it seem more convincing.

 “Ah, Loch. I see that you’re testing out your…new limbs.” Riverich, who had just walked in, donned in a mask and tank, with a plasma rifle in his hands, said.

 “How’s the perimetre?” Jada asks, plunking herself onto a metal box that was beside her.

 “Clear now.” he replies, taking off the mask and taking a breath of clean air.

  They were inside an abandoned building, on the first floor. The MSD had been deployed, which made the area habitable for them.

  After barely escaping from ‘Fort’, the huge Original Turned, the two scholars retrieved Trein’s body and quickly applied some anesthetics to him and used the heat from the plasma rifle to burn the ends of his legs that were ripped due to the building. After that, they quickly drove some ways, just to be sure that they were far from the turned. After finding an abandoned building they deemed fit, they unloaded the now unconscious Trein and brought him inside to see what could be done for him.

  Riverich noted that, during all of this, Trein’s mask had been ripped off his face. Which meant that he was breathing straight, unfiltered toxic gas for the whole time.